Chapter 1: Of raids and memories
The wind soared overhead, buffeting the poor Latios. The young dragon scrabbled up again, this time ducking his head so that the larger-than-normal rain drops wouldn't send him spiraling to the ground again. He quickly made for the nearest cave in the cliff next to him. He sat upon the dry ground, tucking in his imaginary legs into a fetal position to dry himself. He dipped his head and closed his ruby like eyes, recalling the occurrence that sent him into this nightmare of a quest.
Rives grinned on his way back to the village, the great load of a freshly caught finneon flopping his back as its carcass swiveled on his fishing pole. He wasn't the greatest of his tribe- he usually trailed behind in packs, he couldn't fly high up as high as all the other Lati (the technical plural form of their species) without shaking like a leaf from accidently looking down, and even though they're psychics, he still only has the dumb 'lifting objects with your mind' thing down, and even then it couldn't be anything over 10 lbs. – but when it came to water, he was like a shark among rocks.
He looked about the woods, his smirk disappearing. "Something is not right", the blue and white dragon thought to himself. "It feels too… still." Rives picked up the pace, looking up to see the familiar village sign. His sixth sense was confirmed when he saw it was matted with the familiar purple substance of Lati blood. He broke left and made a mad dash into the village.
What he saw made him drop his catch.
Rives cringed, half because of the memory, and half of the biting cold outside. That's the reaction you get when you think of the fact that your entire village was raided and your people lying around slain while you were out fishing. The half-legendary sighed, and pulled out a small, black & white treasure box from his tarnished grey habit. On the front of it, it depicted both a Latios and a Latias, both pointing at the chest's lock. He pulled out the key he hid behind his ear and opened the odd box. A sad smile crossed his face as he pulled out the object. The object in question was an amber, encasing a large, red, clouded over eye. Rives sank against the wall, recalling the stories he was told as a hatchling.
"Mama, mama!" squealed the hatchlings clambering around the elder Latias entering the den, "Read us a story! Read us a story!" The Latias sighed with relief as she hovered close to the ground the young ones shaking off of her. They sat around her in silence, eyes large with anticipation, yearning for their beloved story.
The red and white female dragon gave a huff, knowing they wouldn't let her go unless they got a story. "Oh, alright, but only if you all go straight to bed." She was rewarded with nods from all of them. "Excellent, now, allow me to tell you a story."
"Before the Lati ever settled down here, they all were roaming the lands, in search of a home. However, they all roamed in groups, and there was one group that was known all throughout the land. That group was our group. And do you know why we were famous? It's because we were led by none other than Guvyun the fabled, an ancient explorer who was loved and feared all about the world. He founded our town, was our first mayor, and fought off many famous bandits and marauders that tried to destroy our town."
Before she could continue the story, a young Latias raised her hand. "Um," The older woman recognized her as the current mayor's daughter, "My daddy has a room that he says I can't go in until I'm older. I go in it anyway. He has a cool crystal with a creepy eye in it. What is it?"
Before she got an answer, an equally young, sneering voice came from somewhere behind her in the den. "Stupideo, why you interrupt the story?" The voice came from the Latios from the behind her, a brute slightly larger than the others, who dealt a hefty flick to her ear.
The story-teller tut-tutted the bully, earning him a mental scorch on the neck. "Now, now, she actually makes a very fine point. You see, one day, the town had to fight a mighty barbarian, an evil Absol named Yeve, who was as greedy for our treasures as the grass was green. The battle was fierce, but none could beat Guvyun! Sadly, however, in the battle his eye was permanently broken. After that battle, he decided that our tribe should be one of peace, not war. As a permanent reminder of his choice, he took his broken eye, and put it into a puddle of tree sap. The tree sap was that of the peculiar tree that grows around here, peculiar because its sap hardens in only a few days, instead of thousands of years. Using telepathy, he lifted the amber puddle, along with the eye, out of the ground, and shaped the sap into an eye that aligns with the eye inside."
The larger Latios now held up his hand, suddenly more intrigued now that treasure and barbarians were involved. "What did Guvyun do 'bout his eye? Did he wear an eye-patch?"
A chuckle escaped the maw of the story-teller. "Hehe, no, he wore a monocle." She was awarded with oohs and aahs from the hatchlings. Even though they were young, they still had pretty high intelligence. "And the amazing thing about the monocle was that it was magic, because it was forged by none other than the legendary pokemon Groudon. The reason it was magic is because even though he didn't have an eye, Guvyun could still see perfectly while wearing it." Once again, there were many gasps from the young ones.
The next hatchling to raise its hand was a notably smaller Latios, the blue on his body also lighter, like a sky color. It was young Rives. "Erm, excuse me, but what happened to Uncle Guvyun? You know, when did he did, where did he die, and all that? "
The story-teller smiled. She knew what Rives was talking about when he said uncle, as did many other children. Rives was quite well known in the village, and for a good reason: Guvyun was his great-uncle. It was also for this reason that the treasure chest containing the eye of Guvyun was a fake. The real one he gave to Rives to protect, since if an intruder were to plunder and raid their village in the middle of the night, a child's bedroom would be the last place they would check for any rare treasure. "Well, you see, Rives, no one knows. In fact, since so few of you are still awake," she began, noting that only Rives, the brute, the mayor's daughter, and a couple others were still awake, "let me tell you a little secret: the mayor and his council members have a giant record, containing all the important events in our tribes' history. However, the only thing it doesn't contain is Guvyun's death. No one knows when, where, or even why he died! Call it crazy, but some people say he's still alive!"
She saw that all the kids were asleep. Smiling to herself, she started to float out of the den, only to be stopped at the entrance by Rives. She noticed his eyes were filled with sleep, but he was awake nonetheless. "Um, miss, before you go, is it okay if you tell us more tomorrow?"
The elder smiled. "Sure."
That was all he needed to hear to lull him into the realm of dreams.
A small tear-drop rolled down his face. Here he was, the descendent of a legendary hero, huddled in a cave, whimpering like a hatchling hearing that he wasn't allowed in the kitchen after he blew off the roof while making a "masterpiece".
He began to think about some of the friends he lost. The story-teller was like a mother to him, since his real mom and dad died defending the tribe in a skirmish with pirates. Then there was the mayor's daughter. He sighed, thinking about his best friend. His thoughts also came to the large, former bully, who actually grew up to become the best athlete in the tribe (though some of the worst telepathy ever recorded in Lati history)
Rives placed the amber back in the box, and put the chest back in his cloak. As he placed the treasure in his habit, he felt a new object. He pulled out the object, and as his eyes locked onto it, all sorrow he felt was replaced with contempt. It was a silver throwing spike, a tool commonly used amongst explorers as a ranged weapon. The odd thing about this one was that its base was marked with a flower bud. There were several he found, but this one he found lodged in the shoulder of the mayor. He gripped the weapon, almost to the point of drawing blood.
Rives somberly exited the cave, entering his new life as a bounder. As he left the cave, he pointed to the darkened, rainy sky. "Here my vow, Arceus! I, Rives the Latios, vow to avenge my tribe! I shall find the leader of the raiders who destroyed my town, and slay him with his own weapon! Hoorooo!" Giving the Lati war cry, he flew across the valley, trying not to look back.
Yes, if you have done the math by now, you've probably figured out this is my first fanfiction. Now I bet your reading this and thinking it's not exactly PMDish, but don't worry, it'll pick up pace in the next chapter. Also, if you're actually going to review this story (which I can't see many people doing) can someone please explain the whole *insert here*shipping thing to me? I've figured out many codes here in FF, but that one I just don't understand :\
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, it is copyrighted by Nintendo and HAL labrotary. Please have mercy and don't sue, as this is only to advertise your awesomeness
~The Vivid Tiger
